The Black Sheep

8 Stages Of Being A Cal Football Fan

Cal Football is well into its season and quite frankly, things are not looking good. However, many fans seem to still be extremely dedicated to the Golden Bears. Here at The Black Sheep, we have compiled a timeline of the 8 stages of being a Cal football fan, and no matter which stage you’re at, go bears!

Stage 1— Get accepted to cal:This is probably the most difficult but rewarding stage of being a Cal football fan. Only 18% of people each year get the opportunity to cheer on Cal football and become lifelong fans. At this point, you are ecstatic but naive, so, so naive.

Stage 2— Have nothing better to do on Saturdays:This stage is very important— it involves checking your calendar and making sure that you have literally nothing better to do. Many Cal students avoid football because they “have midterms,” or “don’t make it past DKE,” or are “seeing family.” Only students who actually get tickets and sit through a Cal football game are on the road to becoming true and loyal fans.

Stage 3— Become emotionally invested:You’ve experienced the thrill of watching Cal win its first game of the season and you love it. Although the season opener is usually against a random school that no one has heard of, you’ve been transformed into a dedicated spectator. You can’t wait for the next game.

Stage 4— Find yourself yelling in the stands:You watch your second victory and by that point, you’re committed. You find yourself yelling things like: “Roll on your bears” and other cheers that don’t make that much sense, and before you know it you’re beating up someone in a red shirt! You go home hyped, and begin to endlessly share articles on Facebook about the shocking victory; chances are you’ll even hear yourself say: “Cal might actually be good this year.”

Stage 5— Find yourself crying because Cal lost:You were wrong. You fell for the trick that almost all Cal fans fall for. Your optimism is ceasing to exist.

Stage 6— Find yourself crying again, and again, and again:“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” is your new motto. Cal football failed you once, but you kept coming back. You go to your fourth, and fifth game and god forbid, you even record the next away game. You’ve become disillusioned— holding onto inexistent optimism.

Stage 7— Denial:You’re too busy to watch away games because if you didn’t see Cal lose, then they didn’t. You unfollow Cal athletics on Instagram because if you don’t see a post about the score of the game, then there was no score. You’re in denial and would have been better off if you hadn’t completed step one.

Stage 8— You have become a true Cal Football fan:All you need to do is pre-order your tickets for next season and then you will have reached the full extent of fandom. You see that Cal has not won a single conference game, but you don’t even care. You love the golden bears, and no loss or series of losses will change that!

As you can see, being a Cal fan sure is a wild ride. You will never truly know when you have reached the point of no return, but as for now just keep holding on and go bears!